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Local historian Herbert Grimm recently visited Baumholder’s weekly German-American Stammtisch to intrigue a new generation of listeners with tales from long ago.
Twenty Americans and several German Stammtisch participants attended the event, which is held at 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday at the Restaurant Zum Stern.
Grimm, 90, who served as the guest speaker for the second time, talked about the history of emigrants from Baumholder to North America and the unique and special relationship between Baumholder and the U.S. He also brought along a copy of the emigration register for the City of Baumholder, one of the most valuable documents still in existence. The register details emigrations from the 19th century and lists the full name of each person, their age, profession, religious denomination, the total number of people who emigrated and how much money they took along.
The first official person listed in the register was Baumholder resident Friedrich Schug. The 26-year-old blacksmith emigrated with his 23-year-old wife Catharina, maiden name Pauli, in March 1846 to the United States.
There was also evidence that Baumholder residents had already emigrated to the New World before 1846.
“Sadly, the city do not have any official documentations of that time,” Grimm said.
Among the emigrants were also a couple of Grimm’s ancestors.
“Only one of them is a direct-line ancestor,” said the historian who continues to cultivate the relationship with his relatives in the U.S.
The audience was surprised when the guest speaker mentioned that two Baumholder residents had fought in the battle of Yorktown in October 1781 on the side of George Washington for America’s independence.
“George Metzger and Jean Simon belonged to the Royal Regiment of Zweibrücken (Royal Deux-Pont),” Grimm said. “Metzger was killed in the battle, and Simon survived and stayed in America.”
Grimm jokingly mentioned that “the Americans owe their independence to two Baumholder residents,” which made the audience smile.
“What great and important information,” said Staff Sgt. April Tessmer, 16th Sustainment Brigade.
Afterward, Grimm answered questions from attendees, many of whom focused on his time as a German soldier in World War II and in the Africa campaign.
As a special surprise, Grimm also conducted a drawing among the guests for one of his personally signed books, “50 Years of Americans at Baumholder,” which is currently sold out.
